Education

Research Interests

Investigating how ionic liquids (ILs), a new class of solvents composed solely of ions that show promise as ""green"" materials, solvate polysaccharides such as cellulose and starch.

Synopsis

Broadly described, research in my group involves the application of experimental and theoretical methods to study the interactions of a variety of molecules with their environment at the atomic level. For example, we are currently investigating how ionic liquids (ILs), a new class of solvents composed solely of ions that show promise as “green” materials, solvate polysaccharides such as cellulose and starch. Among the techniques we employ to accomplish this are nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and molecular dynamic (MD) simulations. Our studies so far have allowed us to determine that an important class of ILs, the N,N’-dialkylimidazolium chlorides, solvate carbohydrates through the formation of hydrogen bonds between the IL anions and the hydroxyl groups on the sugar solutes. In the case of cellulose and starch, these interactions disrupt their intricate intra- and intermolecular hydrogen bonding network and lead to their dissolution. Together with results from current and future work in this area, these findings will allow us to develop new IL-based “green” solvent systems and technologies for the extraction, processing, and analysis of polymeric carbohydrates, which could have important industrial applications.
Another active area of research in my laboratory deals with the use of easily accessible NMR parameters, such as chemical shifts and coupling constants, to study the dynamics and conformational preferences of small molecules bound to their protein receptors. This information is critical for medicinal chemists involved in the rational design of novel drugs. Computational tools developed by us based on these concepts are currently being used for this purpose by a number of academic and industrial groups.